A UN agency says Europe needs to stop violence against asylum seekers. Eugenio Ambrosi of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Wednesday (February 10): “The use of excessive force and violence against civilians is unreasonable.”
Ambrosi said that the EU and its member states need to take urgent action to prevent people from being deported collectively. It is not uncommon for national authorities to beat people, thefts and insults on certain borders. In the growing body of evidence and reliable reports on preventing and forcing people to return across borders, IOMrequirements also follow.
According to EU and international law, such actions are also called pushbaks are illegal according to both EU and international law.
Croatia was accused of forcing nearly 2,000 people to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina in one month (October 2020).
Although the European Court of Justice decided to stop in December, Hungary also forced thousands of people into Serbia. Its national police force maintains public and online records of deportations.
Greece has also been accused of collective expulsion, and allegedly abused the European Union while demanding the resignation of the executive director, putting the EU border agency Frontex into trouble.